The series was written and co-directed by
John Godber; his co-director was Martin Shardlow and was based on John Godber's stage play 'Putting On The Ritz' which premiered at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre in 1986. The same cast from the stage show appeared in the TV series. The series also spawned a one episode spin-off called
The Continental.
Andrew Dunn later starred in
Victoria Wood's sitcom
Dinnerladies as Canteen Manager Tony, his fellow Ritz bouncers both made one-off appearances in the series, Paul Rider as the escaped criminal The Blender in the episode "Fog" and Andrew Livingstone played Norman the agoraphobic breadman in one first series episode "Monday". ==Cast==